This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
There is a growing demand for battery-based energy storage technologies. This is especially true in the auto industry wherein electric and hybrid power systems are becoming more common place. Ultimately, the efficiency of an electric or hybrid vehicle is dependent on the efficiency of the power storage mechanism and system employed.
Many electric and hybrid vehicles of today utilize Li ion batteries as their primary energy storage solution. Typically, such vehicles employ a plurality of batteries (also known individually as battery cells) coupled together electrically and sometimes physically as a battery network. Although ideally each battery cell of the battery network is identical, in operation each battery cell often varies in terms of performance and lifespan relative to other battery cells of the battery network. This results in a power imbalance in the battery network and variation in the charging and discharging cycles. Eventually, individual battery cells of the battery network may fail or otherwise be compromised such that the performance of the battery network falters, thereby increasing replacement costs of the battery network and reducing the performance of the electric or hybrid vehicle or associate energy storage systems. This results in a significant barrier for the expansion of electric vehicles to the mass market.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the prior art to enhance the performance of battery assemblies and reduce the negative impact of intrinsic (i.e. capacity, self-discharge, internal equivalent resistances, etc.) and extrinsic (i.e. temperature, mechanical stress, etc.) parameters associated with the failures in individual batteries and reduced battery network performance.